Watch Warrington Wolves and Wigan Warriors get the new Super League season underway on Thursday, live on Sky Sports Arena and Sky Sports Mix from 7.30pm
Thursday 30 January 2020 12:17, UK
For the Boston Red Sox, it was called the 'Curse of the Bambino'. For the Chicago Cubs, it was known as the 'Curse of the Billy Goat'.
For Warrington Wolves? Well, it does not actually have a name - but at least one of their squad believes it exists.
In the past 11 years, the Wolves have lifted the Challenge Cup four times and claimed the League Leaders' Shield twice. However, despite appearing in four Grand Finals during that same period, the Super League title has so far evaded them.
Indeed, you have to go back to 1955 for the last time Warrington - sans the Wolves moniker - were crowned rugby league champions, courtesy of a 7-3 win over Oldham in the play-off final.
Major League Baseball's Red Sox and Cubs memorably broke their long-standing curses in 2004 and 2016 respectively, and Wolves newcomer Anthony Gelling is determined to find a way to help end the club's Grand Final woes.
"I don't know what it is, I'm convinced there's a curse on the club but no one wants to believe it," Gelling told Sky Sports.
"I've been looking at voodoo magic and different ways to lift the spell, but I don't know what it is. We'll figure something out and get it done."
Short of dabbling in the dark arts though, the Cook Islands international centre is utilising the experience gained from over a decade of professional experience to ensure the Wolves silence the critics and those opposition fans who taunt them with chants of "it's always your year".
"I'm just trying to have an influence on the culture," Gelling said. "I'm 29 now, I'm not coming in as the shy young kid, so I just speak up and I'm not scared to do that if there's something I think isn't right or something we can do better.
"That's probably how I can contribute the most, and work hard and just do my job."
Gelling, one of Warrington's high-profile signings for this year, returns to Super League after two seasons out of the competition.
"I'm not coming in as the shy young kid, so I just speak up and I'm not scared to do that if there's something I think isn't right or something we can do better."
Having spent 2018 playing in the NRL with New Zealand Warriors, the 29-year-old returned to the British game last year with Widnes Vikings - honouring his contract with the club despite them suffering relegation from Super League.
Gelling quickly endeared himself to the Vikings faithful in the Championship and helped the team reach the final of the inaugural 1895 Cup at Wembley. However, it was a year which also saw the historic club on the verge of extinction due to financial problems before a rescue package was put together.
Looking back, Gelling refers to 2019 as "the dark side of rugby league", yet he is grateful for having his eyes opened to the sometimes harsh realities of life in the professional game outside the top tier.
"For me, the hardest thing was my family were waiting to come over and waiting for visas," Gelling said.
"I was like do you wait for visas to come, set everything up not knowing if I'm not going to have a job when you get here? That was the most stressful thing for me, leading my family into a bit of an abyss.
"Everybody is different, be it financial reasons, young guys who wanted to make a name for themselves that year who were facing having to find a club or work full-time."
It is no surprise that Gelling was courted by Super League clubs for 2020, including former club Wigan Warriors trying to secure his return after starring for them between 2012 and 2017, not to mention becoming a firm fans' favourite.
Instead, it was Warrington who won the race for his signature and by a quirk of fate Gelling is set to line up against the Cherry and Whites in his first competitive outing for the Wire in the Super League season-opener on Thursday evening.
He knows exactly what to expect in the derby at the DW Stadium too, having experienced these clashes plenty of times during his Wigan days.
"The derbies were always good," Gelling said. "Warrington were a team which always set the benchmark, they always had a strong squad which was big and fast, and every time we played them we knew we had to go to another level to beat them.
"Those are the games you enjoy and remember as when you overcome that hurdle and challenge, and I suppose it's the same thing on the other side.
"Warrington, this year, will have Wigan and other teams setting the benchmark which we'll have to overcome."
